Former baddest man on the planet and ex-Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight kingpin Cain Velasquez has seen American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) teammate and current 205-pound ruler Daniel Cormier pick up the belt and defend it once in 2015.
View highlights of his hard-fought victory over Alexander Gustafsson here.
And now that he's fought three times in the span of 10 months, "DC" is taking some vacation time, which is good news for Velasquez, who says the former Olympic wrestler has changed (via MMA Fighting) since gaining a hold of the light heavyweight strap.
"He was a little hard to deal with -- as far as other people. I think -- okay, the best that thing I ever heard from him being champion is people coming to me and saying, 'You know what? I appreciate you when you were champion because you were a guy that didn't change.' And then they see how Daniel [Cormier] ... He's always been a little different and it's the kind of person he is. Good for him."
Ariel Helwani responds:
We were 100% joking when discussing this. Not a fair headline to Velasquez or Cormier. https://t.co/vlCBRqNVG6
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) November 16, 2015
Let it be known that the 36-year-old Cormier and 33-year-old Velasquez have known each other for quite some time, so this comment needs to be taken with a grain of salt. It could be good-natured banter from the former All-American wrestler, or he could be validating what Cormier antagonist Ryan Bader already told us.
Velasquez will face 265-pound champion Fabricio Werdum in a rematch of the pair's UFC 188 main event at a venue yet to be determined in early 2016.
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